


Choir Boys with Designer Shoes (Can't Bully Me Out of My Seat)

by daimler



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Archive needs more Samhwi, Fluff and Crack, How Do I Tag, Just a small amount, Light Angst, M/M, Mentioned Wanna One Ensemble, Relationship(s), Where are all the Samhwi writers?, i miss samhwi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-09-29
Packaged: 2019-01-06 18:01:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12216030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daimler/pseuds/daimler
Summary: It’s Samuel’s second year of college, but he doesn’t meet the older male until halfway through the semester.





	Choir Boys with Designer Shoes (Can't Bully Me Out of My Seat)

**Author's Note:**

> Still not Beta'd. Written because of the SamHwi withdrawal I'm having from the lack of fics and real life interactions.

It’s Samuel’s second year of college, but he doesn’t meet the older male until halfway through the semester. The weather was beginning to change from that warm climate that fogs the city to a series of erratic autumn rainstorms. Samuel sits, staring at the white board lamely, head atop folded arms on top of his desk, backpack pillowed underneath as he waits for his morning serving of caffeine to kick in. He can hear the doors swing open and shut as the students file in behind him. He can hear shuffling around him as the students grumble about exams and papers in the lecture hall. Sighing, he watches the pink-haired TA, aka co-captain of the dance team Samuel was a member of, Kang Daniel, fiddle with the laptop on the podium up front, setting up the day’s slide for the professor who was due to come in at any minute. He was laughing with a raven-haired, chiseled face Ong Seongwoo who Samuel assumes is his boyfriend as the older male was definitely not enrolled in the class (he’s seen the other man sit in every class since the beginning of the semester), as well as seeing him and Daniel walk into practice together every time with identical flushed cheeks.

“Pardon me,” a pleasant voice rings through Samuel’s left ear, and he manages to groggily lift his head from his arms enough to regard the voice that was interrupting his musings. He blinks his eyes a couple times and sees a slim (pretty?) young man exasperatedly looking at him. “This is my seat,” the voice adds when Samuel doesn’t make an effort to move.

“I see,” Samuel replies, eyes flicking to the clock on the far well just behind the guy’s head. He sighs, blowing a stray strand of lavender hair out of his eyes and begins to wonder where Jihoon is, because they had made a pact of actually showing up to class in an attempt to pass this Korean film exam, and Samuel swears if Jihoon bails out on him, again, he’s going to-

“Well, are you going to move?” The voice asks, hands moving to settle on the sides of low-riding jeans. The guy is sporting a pretty red belt with a belt buckle reading fashionista that Samuel can’t help but notice. At the sight of the younger male leering at his crotch area, the disgruntled man huffs at Samuel. “Please move,” the man hisses, which defeats the purpose of the question in the first place, in Samuel’s opinion.

“You’re mean,” Samuel replies idly, pursing his lips slightly. “There are other open seats in this room.” Samuel shrugs and the slim male huffs in exasperation before stomping away to the end of the aisle. Jihoon shows up ten minutes later all smiles and winking and spends the entire lecture doodling on the margin of Samuel’s notebook.

\--------

Samuel sees the slim male return with a friend at the end of class, when everyone is exiting the room and heading off to their next class or lunch or back to their dorm to sleep. Samuel raises an eyebrow as he stuffs his pencil into the backpack he found under his roommate Guanlin’s bed. “Geez, do you really want this seat that bad? Look- I’m leaving, okay?”

“Hyung,” the other male says instead with some aegyo in his voice, turning away from Samuel and regarding Jihoon with a warm smile. “Since when were you in this class?”

“Since forever,” Jihoon says smiling. He has the nerves to wink at the slim male. “So, would be it be too much to ask for a copy of your notes?”

“Yesterday’s notes?” asks the male’s small-faced friend.

“From the beginning of the semester?” Jihoon tries instead, laughing when the seat-prince scoffs at the wink-boy with a pleasant smile. Samuel sees Jihoon grin when the small-faced male finally promises to photocopy his notes on the pretext of owing Jihoon from last semester. “You’re the best, Jinyoungie. Say hi to your boyfriend for me~” Jihoon says, waving the other two males off with a grin.

“So,” Samuel says, watching the two bounce away arm-in-arm with the one called ‘Jinyoung’ nodding as the shorter, slim male chats at him excitedly. “Who was the other guy?”

“That,” Jihoon replies with a knowing and amused expression, “was Lee Daehwi.”

\---------

As it turns out, Daehwi ends up being in more than just one of his classes, despite being a year above him. Samuel learns this fact during an attempt to salvage his grades for the semester. In his current class, he watches the professor flip through mundane power point slides and wonders how the hell he ended up in an introduction to Chaucer philosophy class to begin with. Then Samuel remembers that Guanlin had helped him sign up for courses last year while they were both drunk out of their minds after Jisung’s farewell party. He vaguely remembers Guanlin having clicked a million flashy buttons and laughing outrageously while they made fun of course descriptions. 

No matter how he ended up there, Samuel lets out a sigh of relief when the class ends. He’s twenty feet from the exit when he notices Daehwi moving away from someone at the back of the room. 

“Why aren’t you returning my calls?” A tall, probably-steroid-taking, muscle guy in a douche polo insists as he moves down from the last row and slings one arm over an uncomfortable looking Daehwi.

Samuel sees the older male flinch away in disgust, sliding slightly away from the douche-nozzle’s grasp. “Look, we went on two dates, that’s all. I’m not your boyfriend. Please stop calling me.” Samuel sees Daehwi wince when the larger male doesn’t let go during an attempt to extract himself away from the muscled arms. “Why are you being so difficult? Please stop!”

“Look, what did I do wrong?” The muscled male continues, turning Daehwi around and putting a hand around the slim man’s waist. “Tell me, I’ll change! I’ll-”

“He wants you to let go, man,” Samuel cuts in. He’s rewarded with two sets of equally confused eyes before the guy lets go of Daehwi. He sees Daehwi stumble a tiny bit away from the guy as his assailant shakes his head and grabs his books before heading out the door. Samuel watches as Daehwi regards him with a look torn between appreciation and embarrassment before the latter hurries away wordlessly. 

Huh, Samuel thinks. Well, that was completely anti-dramatic. 

\--------------

Samuel mostly forgets about the incident when he runs into Daehwi a few days later at a random party. He was talking to Jaehwan and Sungwoon before the two run off to skirt-chase a pair of sorority twins. Samuel chuckles and waves over to the bartender at the bar and blinks when someone sets a bottle of beer in front of him. He turns around to find Daehwi next to him, shuffling next to him, awkwardly, in an indecently tight dress shirt that shows the older male’s slim, but muscled figure.

“What’s this?” Samuel asks, eyeing the beer warily.

“It’s…on me,” Daehwi says, combing his hand through his shiny, brunette locks shyly. The older male sighs and rolls his eyes when he sees Samuel stare dumbly at him in return. “Look, just accept my gratitude, okay?” Daehwi says exasperatedly, puffing out his cheeks (cutely?). The slim male looks pleased when Samuel does drink the offered beer, deciding to take a seat next to the lavender-haired sophomore. “My friends, they’re on the dance floor, but I don’t feel like joining them.”

Samuel blinks finishing off the beer. “And what do you want me to do about that?” 

“Dance with me,” Daehwi suggests, eye-smiling and taking his hand. When the younger male makes no attempt to move, Daehwi blushes and stammers, “I mean, if you think it’s too gay to dance with another guy…”

Samuel tilts his head and shrugs, “That’d be hypocritical of me to think that.”

He sees a slight hint of a smile on the older man’s face. “Oh, so you’re…”

“Bi,” Samuel says, “Or Pan, I haven’t really had much experience. But I’ve definitely had girlfriends before and had some great make-out sessions with guys.”

He smirks at the scandalized look Daehwi gives him. The older male smacks the younger playfully before grabbing his hand again and pulling him towards the dance floor. Samuel follows with a laugh as Daehwi leads them to the middle of the dance floor, with a giggle, strobe lights over head as people crowd around them. Samuel smiles and sets his hands on the slim man’s hips and keeps a respectable distance as they dance to the remix of an overrated pop song. Samuel laughs when the DJ plays a song from one of his dance routine and decides to pull out some of his choreography on the dance floor. 

People begin crowding around him in a circle as he does a quick hand-hop, feet kicking up in the air. Sungwoon pops out of the crowd into the DJ booth with a smile and begins to remix the beat into another one of Samuel’s pieces. Samuel laughs as he sees his friends Woojin, Hyeongsop, Youngmin, Donghyun, Nayoung, Kyulkyung and Chungha join him in the dance. He sees Daehwi smiling and cheering from the corner of his eyes until the song ends, and everyone goes back to their usual Saturday night grinding. 

“You’re not bad,” Daehwi says when Samuel slips back next to him. The younger male wipes his face with the edge of his sleeves and turns to the elder.

“Of course not,” Samuel grins, giving the other man a little peace sign. They spend the rest of the night laughing over Jaehwan’s drunken tactics at picking up girls. Daehwi passes down at least five requests to dance and opts to hang out on the balcony with Samuel instead with Sungwoon popping back up occasionally to offer them more drinks. Each time Daehwi politely declines and stays a little bit longer with Samuel. They exchange cell numbers at the end of the night, Daehwi waving bye to him with smiling eyes and a cheeky ‘Don’t fall in love with me’ over his shoulder while Samuel wonders if the number in his phone is even real. 

“So,” Guanlin starts when they break into Minhyun and Jonghyun’s apartment at the sake of not trudging all the way back to their dorm room. “Who was that? He’s pretty.”

“Really?” Samuel replies absently as he makes himself at home on Jonghyun’s bed. “I didn’t notice.”

\-----------------

They meet again on a warm Friday afternoon when Somi bursts into the practice room in the middle of dance practice. Daehwi pokes his head in behind Somi, waving hi to Jihoon and Youngmin and even Donghyun. The practice officially ends when Somi pulls out a bunch of gift certificates for a nearby yogurt house, and suddenly everyone is cramming on to the campus bus in hopes of getting to the yogurt house first. 

“So,” Daehwi asks when their group finally convinces the waiters to push three whole tables together. “How did you do on that exam?”

Samuel makes a face grabbing his receipt from the scary-faced cashier (whose nametag read ‘Dongho’). “Let’s not talk about that.”

He grins when the bell rings and someone else comes into the restaurant. He hears a loud cheer as everyone is dog piling on top of a boisterous young man who has entered the shop. Samuel had given up on being surprised at Jisung’s entrances long ago. While their ex-dance captain claims to have a legitimate job in the city, he has yet to reveal the details to anyone. Instead, he shows up on campus more often, even after his graduation the previous spring semester. He watches as Seongwoo and Daniel run up and squish the older male in between them, knowing that the two co-captains adored the eldest as a mother/older brother figure.

The atmosphere of the yogurt shop is very pleasant filled with the chatter of the dance team. Even the grumpy cashier was smiling, though Samuel suspects it has more to do with his giant roommate flashing the elder his gummy smile and talking to him in Taiwanese-accented Korean. Samuel and Daehwi start laughing when an old American rap song comes on the restaurant radio and Daehwi begins bobbing his head and humming along. “This is my favourite,” the elder explains over his bowl of taro and strawberry yogurt while the others are still in line deciding on toppings. 

“No way,” Samuel laughs over the commotion, having to guard his mochi toppings from a whining Jihoon. “This is my favourite too!”

“You know,” Daehwi says when Samuel slaps Woojin’s prying hands away from his other side. “I’m starting to like you a lot more.”

Samuel can only smile at that.

\-----------

Seasons change and Samuel feels the autumn season passed especially fast, leaving behind a blanket of leaves on campus as the weather begins to cool down to a chilly fifteen degrees. Well, Samuel concludes stepping over a small puddle the midnight rains left the night before, it IS autumn time in Korea. Samuel continues his routine of attending early classes in the morning, hitting the gym in the afternoon, attending dance club, and actually re-reading his notes at night before either stepping out to party, or, more often than not, heading off to bed. Sometimes Jihoon comes in to review together for cinematography, but mostly they just end up sprawled in front of Woojin’s PS4, busy shooting Nazis or taking turns playing Crash Bandicoot.

One afternoon, Samuel passes the Performing and Cultural Arts Centre on his way out of the gym and spots Daehwi on top of a ladder. The older male is busy decorating the giant Christmas tree set up near the centre’s stairways while Daehwi’s friend Jinyoung, who Samuel has gotten to know through Daehwi, is arranging ornaments by color and the other members of the university’s choir are setting up a table nearby. He sees Jaehwan is decorating a banner on the table, no doubt abusing glitter pens, and Sungwoon loudly explaining something to the soprano section of the choir. 

“What are you doing?” Samuel asks walking up next to the ladder and nearly surprises Daehwi off from the top.

“Hold the end of this,” Daehwi commands, watching as Samuel places a solid hand on the ends of the metal sides while Daehwi slowly steps down, his designer Aldo shoes clicking on every step.

“Want to buy some cookies?” he asks after hopping off the bottom rung, blinking his eyes cutely at the younger male. Holding up a checklist, he eye-smiles at Samuel. “All the proceeds go to underprivileged children!”

Samuel gives the elder an unamused, pointed look.

“Okay, fine.” Daehwi rolls his eyes. “Some of the money goes to club dues for next semester, but most of the money goes to charity. Satisfied?”

“Muel-ah,” Jinyoung yells when he spots the lavender-haired boy. “Give the cookies a try. Hwi made them himself!” The small faced vocalist gestures towards the line of people already waiting by the table for the cookie sales to begin. Jinyoung laughs when Daehwi snatches a cookie out of the box and stuffs it in Samuel’s hand. They, along with an amused Sungwoon and Jaehwan, watch as Samuel chews at the chocolate chip thoughtfully before popping the rest of it in his mouth.

“It’s okay,” Samuel shrugs. “Kind of dry, though.”

Daehwi looks scandalized, Jinyoung raises an eyebrow, Jaehwan’s eyes go wide as he scribbles at the banner he was working on faster, and Sungwoon hides his laugh with a cough.

“Lots of people love my cookies!” Daehwi huffs, folding his arms and turning his nose up. “You know; our cookie sales are always cleaned out with a long list for future orders. You’re lucky I even gave you a free sample!” The brunette shuffles away back behind the table to tend to the line of customers while Jinyoung pats a confused Samuel sympathetically on the back.

\------------

The next day, he finds boxes of cookies stacked in the practice room during their practice. “What’s this?” Samuel asks, incredulous, dropping his gym bag next to the mirrored wall. 

“Sungwoon-hyung gave us a discount so we bought them in bulk,” Hyeongsop supplies happily as he hands out bags of neatly wrapped cookies to the other dancers. “They’re really good!” He points to Daniel and Seongwoo, who are busy munching on the ginger lemon ones together in the corner, to make his point. Even Jihoon is feeding Woojin some cookies over near the water cooler.

“It’s made with love, home slice,” Jisung says, looping an arm around Samuel’s waist as he waves a cookie in the younger’s face. “I get some every year. Try the oatmeal white chocolate!”

“Go to work, hyung!” Hyeongsop cries instead. 

\--------

“Yo,” Samuel says with a small wave when he meets Daehwi in front of the theater one Wednesday afternoon. He takes a glance at the time table and does a double take. “Did the movie already start?”

“Take this,” Daehwi replies as the older male leads the two towards the entrance of the theatre. Shoving a bucket of popcorn at Samuel, he digs through his pockets for another pre-paid ticket. Daehwi sighs when Samuel gives him an unimpressed stare. “Okay, Haknyeon-hyung and I had a fight. I didn’t want to waste the tickets. You get to see a free movie and I get to not feel like a loser on a Friday night. Are you coming or not?”

“Okay, Princess.” Samuel scoffs bemusedly as they find a couple of seats near the back of the theatre. He snatches a couple of kernels before popping them in his mouth. He ends up eating the entire bucket and drinking most of Daehwi’s diet coke during the movie while the older male stares intensely at the screen, giggling whenever the male lead makes a charmingly befuddled joke. It’s an overrated romantic comedy, and to be honest Samuel doesn’t find the lead actress very attractive. Still, he periodically hands Daehwi napkins whenever the elder male laughs so hard that he actually cries. 

Samuel throws away the trash when the movie ends, holding Daehwi’s jacket and waiting for him outside of the restroom as the elder male uses the facilities and touches up his lip tint. “You know,” the younger male says when the brunette comes out, just as gorgeous as ever. “I have yet to see you in a successful relationship.”

“What are you doing today?” Daehwi asks instead of replying. The elder turns around as Samuel helps him put the jacket back on. “Minki-hyung and Minhyun-hyung are meeting up with me soon and we’re heading over to the mall. Want to come?”

“Why, so I can hold your bags while you shop?” Samuel laughs. “No thanks. I’m supposed to meet up with Guanlin to be his wing man on his date in about,” he takes a look at his watch, “20 minutes ago. Okay, I have to go.”

Daehwi manages to snatch onto the end of Samuel’s jacket before the lavender-haired male could sprint away. “Wait!” the sweet-voiced male says, eyes looking down at his chocolate coloured Ferragamo shoes. “Just--Thanks for keeping me company.”

“No prob,” Samuel says flashing a grin to the smiling male before running off to meet his roommate.

\---------------

The winter holiday break comes and goes way too quickly. Samuel spends the remaining days of the year catching up on sleep while his parents’ dog curls up comfortably next to him. On Christmas-Eve, he goes to a karaoke bar with his dance troupe. Hyeongsop hogs the mic while Daniel and Seongwoo dance to the choreography for Twice's Signal. Even Woojin manages to sing a song or two before being kicked out of the room on the pretext of his horribly singing, Jihoon laughing the loudest as Woojin pouts outside of the room.

New Year’s Eve consists of way more alcohol than necessary. Jisung throws a party in his new apartment in the city and has invited everyone he’s ever encountered in his entire life. Halfway through the night, more of Jisung’s random friends show up, bottles of beer in hand as everyone greets them in.

Samuel finds Daehwi in the kitchen next to the refrigerator, laughing into a stranger’s ear with the strange man pulls him in close, grip possessive around Daehwi's slim waist. Daehwi breaks into a huge smile and waves when he spots Samuel, brushing his increasingly-confused companion off and meeting Samuel at the island counter in the middle of the kitchen.

“Having fun?” Daehwi asks as he snatches one of the sliced lemons he and Somi had brought (along with bags full of grocery, “because God knows Jisung-oppa is too busy to keep himself well fed”) as their house-warming gift off of the cutting board left on the island. He drops the lemon in his martini and looks at Samuel with smiling eyes. 

“Make me a drink too, hyung,” Samuel grins, and makes a small begging motion when Daehwi rolls his eyes at the younger, already pulling out the shaker. Samuel watches as the latter drops some ice into the glass and fill it halfway with lime juice.

“So, is that your new boy-toy of the week?” Samuel asks making a motion at the guy Daehwi was with earlier. The stranger seemed okay enough, except for that blank stare he had as he stared at the vacant spot Daehwi was just at. Fortunately, a couple of his friends came in and he had people to talk to as he waited for his date to return.

“Be nice!” Daehwi scolds throwing in shot after shot of vodka into the shaker. “This one is going to work out, I just know it. My new year resolution is to be more successful at relationships,” the baby-faced junior beams while handing Samuel his drink, ruffling the younger's hair. “Wish me luck?”

“Good luck,” Samuel laughs, and watches Daehwi saunter back to the small group in his designer Berluti Oxfords and drags off boyfriend number five to dance, not that Samuel is counting. The lavender-haired boy takes a sip of the elder's concoction and gives a nod of approval of the taste. The last thing he really remembers is Jisung coming back into the kitchen with a bottle of what the eldest claims to be “the good stuff” while he fills Samuel’s shot glass after making him down the drink he was holding.

The rest of the night is spent in alcoholic bliss as everyone does rounds. At one point Samuel passes out and wakes at 2 AM and finds himself sleeping on the carpeted floor next to a pair of not-so-completely-clothed strangers. He manages to fumble his way into Jisung’s bed, slipping off his Dunks, and nudges a sleeping Guanlin aside, curling up with a pillow. 

Jisung starts kicking everyone out at 9 am the next morning on the pretense of having to get ready for work. He only stops when he realizes that help is needed in cleaning up the apartment. Samuel and Woojin spend two hours throwing empty beer bottles and lemon peels into oversized trash bags while Sungwoon storms through the apartment, looking for his lost cell phone. Guanlin sits on the kitchen table, tending to his growing hang over as an equally hung over Dongho rubs his back soothingly. When the time grows near noon, they find a pair of lacy underwear under the couch (“seriously, what the fuck!” Jisung rages. “I didn’t even get any last night!”) and Sungwoon’s phone in the fridge, next to the eggs. 

\--------

The new year finds Samuel in a proactive mode, determined to raise his grades after the failure that resulted from all the parties and missed classes from last semester. Jihoon laughs at him when Samuel shares his resolution. 

“I’m living in the library from now on,” Samuel decides as he scans through his course syllabuses for the semester. He picks out another textbook and dumps it in his cart, puffing his cheeks out when Jihoon laughs. “What?”

“No, uh-nothing,” Jihoon grins. “Dream big, huh?” The elder glances over his own list of textbooks for the semester and drops, what seems to be, a fourteen-pound book into the cart. “What are we going do about the dance competition this year?” Jihoon says with a sour face, “Jisung will flip if we don’t bring home another trophy.”

“Hyung doesn’t even go to this school anymore, Jihoon-hyung,” Samuel deadpans, picking out another workbook. “Don’t Daniel-hyung an Seongwoo-hyung have it covered?”

“Seongwoo-hyung hasn’t even started his senior thesis, yet. And Daniel hyung is too busy trying to get Seongwoo-hyung to ride his ass to even think about a competition set,” Jihoon points out, busy flipping through a Spanish textbook as Samuel gives him a disgusted face at the mention of his two hyung's sex lives. “We’re running out of funds too. Maybe we should start recruiting more members?”

Samuel sighs pushing the cart towards the register. “This was so much easier when Jisung-hyung did all the work.” He pauses for a minute before they both burst out laughing, because Buddha knows Jisung never did anything besides vandalize the entire campus with flyers.

\--------------

“Boo!” Daehwi laughs as he removes his hands from Samuel’s shoulder. Ruffling the younger's now light-brown hair, the elder sets his Herschel backpack on the table, taking a seat next to a surprised Samuel, “Looks like we’re in the same class again. What are you majoring in, anyway?”

Samuel gives the elder a weak smile, “Undeclared?”

“What the hell?” Daehwi slaps the younger on the arm in return. “You’re a second year already! What are you doing with your life, Samuel Arredondo Kim?”

“Hey! I’m working on it! What about you?” Samuel demands as he rubs his numb arm.

“I’m majoring in Art History and Music Composition,” Daehwi looks proud at this. “And I might even minor in East Asian performance art if I have the credits. Here I thought you’d be more productive. You know, Hanhae-hyung is already working on getting into law school. He’s so dedicated, so hardworking, and he-”

“-sounds like the nozzle of a douche,” Samuel cuts in, raising his hands in defeat when Daehwi threatens to hit him with his backpack.

\-----------------

Samuel can’t explain it, but the university has somehow deemed it necessary for him to take Biology as one of his course requirements. Samuel blames it on his inability to declare a major properly, reasoning that fate has deemed him to suffer at least once a semester every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Regardless, in the present he stands, watching his lab partner portion off pots of flowers for their respiration lab.

“Please don’t do something stupid,” his partner, a first-year Organic-Chemistry major, says wearily. “I need to get at least a B minus, okay?”

Samuel shrugs and takes his share of the flowers away. He plans to leave it in Youngmin’s closet, preferably with the rest of the unauthorized plants Youngmin is growing. On the way back he runs into Daehwi, who beams and waves him over.

“How pretty,” he coos clasping his hands together when Samuel walks closer.

“Want one?” Samuel asks, already plucking one of the flowers and handing it to the elder, stem and all. Samuel supposes that leaving the plant in its original condition was one of the lab controls, but then again he has never cared for biology. They part ways when Daehwi’s phone rings, Samuel shrugging as the elder runs off, Kenneth Cole cap toes clicking on the pavement.

\---------------------

“Oh my God,” Daehwi says that night, wide-eyed, as he sits in front of his mirror playing with the lone flower Samuel had given him. “Oh my god,” he says again, jumping up and turning towards Jinyoung, loose dress shirt floating up with the dramatic turn. “He likes me! He totally does!”

“Uh-huh,” Jinyoung replies idly, busy looking in the standing mirror, fixing up his hair for his date. “That’s nice.”

“Pay attention, Yongie-hyung!” Daehwi snaps getting up and pacing around the room. “He totally wants me!”

“Who are we talking about again?” Jinyoung asks, leaning closer to the mirror and checking his eye makeup for smudges. Satisfied, he steps back and reaches for the lip tint in his desk drawer.

“Muel!” Daehwi explains exasperated. Daehwi runs a hand through his light-brown hair and twirls the end into a curl around his finger. “How could I have been so blind? There have been signs! Signs!” the erratic male says pulling his finger out of the twirled-strands, giving his roommate a slack-jawed look. Daehwi begins ticking a count on her fingers when Jinyoung turns around, crosses his arms and stares, now paying full attention. “Okay, first, he shows up whenever I call him! Every, SINGLE, TIME! Second, okay, are you listening? He always dislikes whoever I’m dating! And, and, he gave me flowers today!”

“Are you sure?” Jinyoung asks quietly, turning back around and slipping his lip tint into his front pocket, fluffing his fingers through his bangs.

“Of course I’m sure!” Daehwi yells, looking almost offended at his friend’s inquisition. “This is not me being egotistical, okay? This is the downside of being beautiful!” 

“Well, aren't you the most royal of all of the princesses?” Jinyoung hums under his breath, ducking when Daehwi throws a sweat band at him. 

\-------

Tuesday afternoon comes, and it finds Samuel in the library (“No, seriously, where are you going?” Guanlin had asked him; face serious, when Samuel told him where he was going the first time). He flips through the first few pages of his English workbook and blinks when he hears the familiar click of Gucci heels against the marble floors. Samuel rolls his eyes when he realizes this. He’s been hanging around Daehwi way too much.

“Hwi-hyung!” Samuel hisses, waving the older boy over.

“Hi, Muel,” Daehwi says quietly, looking around for an escape. “What are you doing?”

“Eh, studying?” Samuel pauses, standing up a bit to reach over the older male. “Hold on, your helix-earring is tangled in your hair.”

“Stop it!” Daehwi snaps, perhaps a little louder than necessary, and steps back away from the younger male. He gets a couple of shushes from people at the table and a weird look from Samuel. “Just - okay! I know it’s hard for you, but please stop it! This is uncomfortable for me too!”

“It’s just an earring, hyung.” Samuel blinks, “No need to be so over dramatic.”

“What?” Daehwi asks confused. “No! I’m talking about your infatuation with me! I know we’ve been friends for a while, and we get along fine, but you have to realize that I’m already in a committed relationship! You’re my good friend and I really don’t want anything to change, but you have got to stop hitting on me!”

Samuel stares at Daehwi, mouth slightly open and eyes opened wide. “What the hell,” he manages to say after a couple seconds.

“You don’t have to deny it, there have been signs.” the slim male continues straightening his tie and clutching his Marc Jacob's messenger bag closer to his body. “I’ve noticed, okay?!!”

“What the hell?!” Samuel says instead, making odd hand gestures at the elder. “What are you talking about? I don’t like you! I don’t like- this.” He stutters, awkwardness followed by some more hand motions. 

“Oh my God,” Daehwi stares, mouth agape, eyes wide. “Oh my god, I get it now. You and Jihoon-hyung are together and you're trying to bring me into a poly-amorous relationship! Everything makes so much more sense now! That’s why you always spend so much time half-naked with Jihoon-hyung and that's why you two are always around campus together! You're trying to seduce me with your toned bodies and flirty smiles!”

“What- no!” Samuel winces at the loudness of his voice. Almost everyone has stopped studying and is staring at them now, and Samuel is resisting the urge to throw himself out of the third story window. Their feud ends when a librarian comes and asks them to please lower their voices, and Daehwi has to shrink away in second hand embarrassment before running out on Samuel on the pretense of “being late to- something, okay yeah, I have to go”, leaving Samuel to pick up his jaw from the floor.

\-----------------

“And then…he accused me of trying to get him in a poly-amorous relationship!” Samuel continues to explain at dinner to a painfully amused group. “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with boys from the College of Music but- just. What the hell? And the worst part is- get this, he thinks I’m in a relationship with you!” He laughs at Jihoon, who just stares oddly at the younger in return. “I mean, you’re totally straight. How blind can someone get, right?”

The table is quiet for a moment. Jihoon clears his throat strangely as he exchanges silent glances with Woojin. Suddenly Samuel feels like he’s been hit with a bulldozer. “Oh,” he says dumbly, “Oh, oh, OH.”

“I thought it was obvious?” Jihoon gave him an awkward smile and Woojin ducks his head to hide his blushing cheeks.

“It’s okay,” Seongwoo supplies helpfully. “Jisung-hyung hasn’t caught on either.”

“But he doesn’t even go to this school!” Samuel can only whine. 

\-------

Samuel doesn’t try to contact Daehwi for a while, partly out of embarrassment and partly out of frustration. He ends up reading and taking notes for his required materials for the next week and finishing half of Woojin’s saved campaigns in Battlefield. Life is surprisingly productive when he doesn’t have to worry about holding Daehwi’s books or fending off the elder's rabid suitors or seeing the slim male's pretty smile or-

“Ugh,” Samuel yells, nearly slams his head against the controller. Maybe Daehwi had been right about him, and he had just been too oblivious to notice. Either way, the young half-Korean finds himself Thursday afternoon in front of the dining hall for a quick snack. Samuel is about to swipe his student card to purchase a banana and some cereal when he notices an altercation near the entrance to the dining hall and the head of a familiar brunette. He sighs. Leave it to Daehwi to start another public commotion. The young undeclared-major drops his stuff off at the counter and heads outside to see what the commotion was about. Samuel expects to find Daehwi in the center of a sing-off or something. Instead, what he finds is a familiar grad-student and someone hanging on the grad-student's arm who is definitely not Daehwi.

“Yeobo, what is this?” Daehwi is asking, voice small and eyes wide. “Are you drunk?”

The older male, Hanhae sighs, more annoyed than apologetic. “I hope you didn’t think we were exclusive. Look, you’re cute, but I’ve had better looking guys and much prettier girls and, well, you’re getting a little too clingy. Stop monopolizing my time, okay?” The inebriated male finalizes, waving his hand dismissively.

Daehwi looks like he’s about to cry. “What are you talking about? You said I was the only one for you!” Behind Daehwi, an angry Sungwoon is holding back Jinyoung who looks almost rabid with rage. “Don’t do this, yeobo. Let’s talk it out,” Daehwi tries, putting one hand on Hanhae’s arm.

The older man shoves the lithe male away instead, causing a couple of bystanders to gasp. Thankfully, Sungwoon and Jinyoung catch Daehwi before the youngest crashes into the bagel machines.

Sungwoon gets up and moves to murder the drunk grad-student when Samuel decides to step in, “Hey! Back off, dude! Didn’t your mother tell you to not lay your hand on other people? You owe him an apology.”

“That wouldn’t be the first time I laid my hands on that dumb bitch,” Hanhae laughs, breath heavy with alcohol.

And that’s when Samuel throws the first punch. 

\-----------

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Daehwi asks later, when campus authorities finally come in to break up the fight. The young singer sighs while going through the bathroom drawers for the first-aid kit Samuel’s mother had stuffed somewhere when Samuel and Guanlin first moved in. “How could you cause such a public display like that?”

“What’s wrong with me?” Samuel stares at her. “I’m the one that just got beat up trying to defend your reputation.”

He winces when Daehwi disinfects his wound none to gently. Samuel opens his mouth to complain, but his features soften when he notices the older male rubbing numbly at the cut on his lip. “Hwi-hyung, are you okay?”

“Of course I’m not okay,” Daehwi sighs, throwing the blood covered tissue away to dab another one in rubbing alcohol. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. No matter what I do, the right guy never comes, and I always end up humiliating myself one way or another.” The older male rubs at Samuel’s wounds some more, stopping only when he elicits a pained groan from the younger. “Am I that unattractive or unpleasant?”

“You’re not unattractive at all,” Samuel says gently as Daehwi moves to throw the growing stack of tissues away.

“Then what’s wrong with me?” Daehwi demands, face determined. Regardless, tears are streaking down the singer's pretty face, and Samuel can’t help but reach out and rub them gently away with his thumb.

“Don’t be upset, hyung! You’re too pretty to have tears,” Samuel manages to whisper, pulling the lithe male in for a silent hug. “Maybe,” Samuel dares to continue. “Maybe you just haven’t found the right person.”

“And where is the right person?” Daehwi chokes out, voice barely above a whisper.

“Right here,” Samuel replies, pulling back and reaching out to push a strand of bangs away from the elder’s face. “I’m right here.”

“Don’t do this,” the elder says instead, pulling away. “I told you to not do this!” Daehwi’s crying even harder now, and Samuel honestly doesn’t know what to do. “I’m sorry, I really am, but I can’t do this,” the older male says, grabbing his jacket before storming out the door.

“Aren’t you going after him?” Guanlin asks, having stayed quiet in the hall for a while now. 

“Didn’t you hear him?” Samuel laughs wryly, body drooping in disappointment and regret. “He doesn’t want me to.”

\--------------

By Saturday night, Hyeongsop and Jihoon have convinced Samuel to give the single life another try. They take the younger to another party at another club and attempt to drown Samuel’s sorrows with alcohol. The half-Korean sighs and denies the offers, laughing when Jihoon runs off after getting a text from Woojin and Hyeongsop goes to talk to a classmate. He's deciding on what an appropriate amount of time to wait is before he can head home when he hears someone clear their throat behind him.

“Want to dance?” he hears a familiar voice asks. Gulping slowly, the young male turns around to the sight of Samuel’s favourite bright-smiled brunette. 

“Sure,” Samuel laughs, complying as Daehwi leads the two of them to the dance floor, just like the first time. This time, however, Samuel moves behind the elder, slips his arms around Daehwi's slim waist and pulls him in close, keeping steady arms around the elder's hips as the two move to the music. Daehwi turns around when the song ends, hooking his arms around Samuel's neck and allowing Samuel to set his hands on the small of the elder's back. 

“I’m sorry,” Daehwi begins to say, digging his face into the younger's broad shoulder. Daehwi isn't wearing insoles today, a trait, Samuel has learned, that indicates the elder's unusual bouts of shyness. Samuel is able to hook his head on top of the other and inhale the sweet scent of the elder's hair. After a while, the elder stops to look up at Samuel, the elder's eyes unusually dark against perfectly parted bangs. “I like you. I’ve always liked you. You treat me so much better than all of my past boyfriends combined, and maybe it was just my ego talking, but I don’t know why I never gave you-”

Samuel cuts the elder off, tilting his chin slightly to capture Daehwi's lips with his. They stay like this for a while, Daehwi’s grip on the back of Samuel's shirt tightening as the elder moves his soft lips against Samuel's. Samuel slips his tongue between Daehwi's parted lips, eliciting a moan from the elder who tightens his hold around the younger's neck. They pull apart at last when Samuel begins to run out of breath, a smug smile on his face. Foreheads still pressed together Samuel huffs and asks, “Does this mean you’ll call me Oppa from now on?”

Daehwi lets out a laugh, hitting the younger lightly in the chest.

"Pervert!" the elder laughs, however, his smiling eyes are back, and Samuel is secretly thankful that he never let Daehwi bully him into giving up that seat.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to everyone who read my first story and encouraged me to keep writing!


End file.
